Goodbye, Muppet: Fourth Red Wolf Killed By Vehicle Strike in a Year

Muppet (2410M) was killed by a vehicle strike on April 15. He is the fourth red wolf to be killed by a vehicle strike in the past 10 months.

According the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, monitoring of Muppet’s movements indicated that he had been crossing Highway 64, and efforts were ongoing to haze him away from the highway and to capture and relocate him.

Muppet’s father was also killed by a vehicle last fall.

Muppet was the first born of the 2022 litter. He leaves behind four siblings from his litter.  He also leaves behind five surviving yearlings from the 2023 litter.

Muppet was less than two years old.

One of Muppet’s sisters, an unnamed female pup wearing radio collar 2501F, was killed by vehicle strike last December.

Three months earlier, Muppet’s father was also killed by vehicle collision near Highway 64 in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. A fourth red wolf was killed by vehicle strike last July.

Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of mortality for red wolves since 2020. (Gunshot is still the leading cause of death.) 17 red wolves now remain in the wild.

Wildlife crossings in the red wolves’ last refuges are urgently needed to prevent even more red wolf deaths from vehicle strikes. Click here to send a letter urgently supporting wildlife crossings in red wolf territory.

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